As my regular readers know, I’m hugely interested in and appreciative of Rational Jenn’s blogging on parenting. Paul and I don’t have any children, and we plan not to make any. However, I find the general principles Jenn discusses both fascinating in themselves, as well as useful for my interactions with other people, as well as with my dog. (Seriously! Assume positive intent!) Plus, I simply like reading thoughtful people write about lives that are so very different from mine: it expands my acquaintance with the ways of the world.

I was particularly struck by a recent post on “back talk,” however. Now I was a bit ho-hum about the topic with her first post — PD Tool Card: Back Talk. It was all well and good, but that’s not a problem relevant to my life. And the same for most of the second post — More about Back Talk — until I read the story about how she explained the need for kindness in communication via the Trader Principle and the results thereof. Wowowow. Kids are really, really remarkable creatures.

Also, while I’m promoting Rational Jenn, I should mention that the new OGrownups e-mail list — managed by her and C. August — has 128 members. Hooray! I’ve found the discussions excellent so far.